That’s what readers say after this space recently pondered the notion of injecting unexpected smiles into farewell services. In particular, I pointed to the visitation of a Peoria 80-year-old. She’d been a hard worker all her life, but always found time to grin. When she died, her family honored her final wishes: closed casket, draped with color comics from the Sunday newspaper.

“She didn’t want anyone to be sad,” a friend recalled. “With the comics, she wanted everyone to have a laugh.”

So, I put out the question: has anyone else ever experienced any lighter moments at these oftentimes dour events? Indeed, readers have. Below are the best such responses, edited for clarity.

►Looking good: My sister and brother-in-law went to the visitation of our cousin. They remarked to each other how much our cousin looked like himself.

My sister knelt and said her prayers. As they stood up, a woman approached them and asked who they were. My sister explained that she was his cousin. The lady said, “Why don’t I know you? I am his sister.” My sister said, “No, my cousin didn’t have any sisters.”

Pause. Oops: wrong church. — R.

►Old landmark: I went with a friend to the visitation of a coworker of ours. As we filed past the casket, we realized that we were at the wrong church — and this wasn’t our friend.

Now, that wasn’t the worst part. As you went past the casket, they wanted you to speak a few words about the deceased. My friend and I gave our co-worker — an older gentleman — a fine send-off. I said it was indeed a privilege to have been able to work with such a kind man, as he was a friend to all. My buddy said just about the same thing.

The kicker was that my friend and I were the only white people at an African-American funeral. We felt like Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in “The Blues Brothers” church scene, with all the amens and hallelujahs.

We did eventually make it to the right visitation just up the street where I shared the story with the co-worker’s widow. What a night that was! I remember saying he was a friend to all, and he’d never met a stranger ... except for that night! — Mike

►Tasteful and tasty: We went to services at a local funeral home. In one room, normally filled just with chairs, there were dining tables, too, which struck me as odd. The deceased man had been cremated, and an urn with his ashes and pictures were at the front of the room. We went through a receiving line then sat down at the tables.

A son of the decedent then called for everyone’s attention. He related that Dad had been gone from Peoria for a number of years, having moved close to his children. But Dad always really loved Avanti’s and talked about it a lot.

The family couldn’t afford to take everyone to Avanti’s. And they didn’t want to put anyone out by having a luncheon at their home. So they made arrangements to have an Avanti’s buffet set up at the funeral home: lasagna, gondolas, salad, garlic bread and cookies. We all got in line for our food, then sat down. As we ate, we listened while various friends and relatives got up to share their memories of the deceased man, and we viewed a video presentation.

Meantime, the funeral home personnel were doing double duty as bus boys. The funeral director said the buffet was a first for them. — Rosy

►Reach out and touch someone: I went to a visitation for the mother of an acquaintance. A phone — a pink princess, no less — was on a draped night stand at the head of the coffin. The phone was off the hook.

Later, I asked the acquaintance about the phone. She said it was symbolic: Jesus had called her mom home.

Now that Jesus has called the land line telephone itself home, I’m guessing that the custom has probably ... um ... died out. — Phil

►Zoinks!: I was a friend of a man with a developmental disability. He was loved by all who knew him, a gentle soul.

He loved Scooby-Doo. He once showed me a photo taken of him sitting on his bed, with Scooby dolls on a shelf behind him. About a month after that photo was taken, he died.

He was cremated. At his funeral, there was a stuffed Scooby-Doo doll sitting by his picture.

At the end of the funeral, they played the theme song to “Scooby-Doo”! I loved it and so did everyone else. Everyone started laughing, then started singing along with the song. It made a very sad day end on a light note! — D.

PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano or (309) 686-3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil. He co-hosts Barstorming, a video blog of unique local taps and eateries taps, at http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/barstorming

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